


Rivers

by Lily_Padd_23



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Dorkiest dorks, Dorks, Established Relationship, Fluff, I think Joshua just wants to fall asleep in like 90 percent of what I write, Is Sam a big gay nerd or am I just projecting?, Love, M/M, One Shot, Pillow Talk, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-24 22:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17713016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lily_Padd_23/pseuds/Lily_Padd_23
Summary: Just a sleepy moment alone.





	Rivers

Rivers  
By Lily Padd

Sam lay propped up on his elbow, pretending Josh had a map of the world on his skin and tracing the major rivers on his bare back. Content, half-aware hums slipped out of Josh’s lips from where he lay on his stomach, arms folded beneath the pillow, eyes closed. The thick, balmy smell of sex still fell on them like a lingering hug. Josh gave an involuntary little wiggle of his hips as he snuggled further into the pillows.  
           “Josh, honey, stay still. You just made me reroute the Ganges,” Sam instructed lightly.  
           “Hmm?” Josh chuckled.  
           “I’m drawing the major world rivers on your back,” Sam told him.  
           “Of course you are,” Josh murmured fondly.  
Sam continued his expedition of Josh’s back, weaving rivers through the soft brown hair across his shoulders, winding around the smatters of freckles, pressing through the pale curves of his muscles. Josh deeply inhaled into Sam’s fingers, riding the warmth of these sleepy intimacies as he exhaled. After one of those comfortably long silences fell, Josh let out a cozy sigh, and asked drowsily, “Which river are you doing now?”  
           “The Zambezi,” Sam answered. Josh smiled as Sam continued, “You know, the Zambezi is the longest easterly-flowing river on the African continent.”  
           “I didn’t know that,” Josh said, because Sam liked to tell him things he didn’t know. And also because he _didn’t_ know that.  
           “What’s your favorite river, Josh?” Sam asked.  
           “My favorite _river?”_ Josh raised his eyebrows, but still didn’t open his eyes, “Is that something people _have?”_  
           “I mean, one could potentially have a favorite of anything of which there is more than one,” Sam rambled.  
           “The second most powerful speechwriter in the country, ladies and gentlemen.”  
Sam laughed at this, and Josh went on, lovingly placating him, “What’s your favorite river, Sam?”  
           “Well, it’s an interesting question!” Sam started. Josh couldn’t hide the grin on his face as Sam softly chattered, “You have to have respect for the Nile. And I cannot _tell you_ how powerful it was to wash my feet in the Ganges. On the other hand, it’s hard to beat standing on the London Tower Bridge looking out over the Thames, isn’t it? Or catching a riverboat down the Mississippi. And who can forget the Amur? So beautiful. And the Euphrates? Stunning. And think of what has come from its cultivation.”

Josh let out another deep breath, smiling to himself. Sam was one of those people who was never content to stay put for too long. He liked to have the wind in his hair. No matter where his feet were, they were never quite planted. He was always a little bit restless. There was too much to do and too much to see in this world.

Josh didn’t mind that he wouldn’t do or see it all, as long as what he did was meaningful. He’d always known exactly what he wanted to do. He wasn’t sure of much in his life, but he was sure that this was the life he wanted. Josh was more of an idealist than people gave him credit for. He’d gotten to see a lot of the world through school and work, but he was happy to have his roots firmly planted in the District of Colombia. He was happy to have his roots firmly planted right next to Sam.

           “So what about you?” Sam asked, “Have you thought of one yet?”  
           “I think,” Josh answered, “I think I'm pretty much set with our river.”  
           “The Potomac?”  
           “Yeah.”

It wasn’t the longest or the most important or the most breathtaking or the most full of ancient history. But it was the river that he walked past every day on the way to catch the metro. It was the river whose smell told Josh he was home. It was the river along which he had walked countless times discussing legislation with great thinkers, in the footsteps of other great thinkers, not all of whom would be remembered, but who were all striving to make a difference anyway. It was the river along which he had walked with people like Sam, who Josh was sure would be remembered. That was the other thing he was sure of. That Sam would be remembered. If for no other reason than that _he_ could never forget Sam.

It was the river beside which Josh had first leaned in a little too close and quietly asked,  
“Sam, may I kiss you?” It was beside the Potomac where Sam had softly replied, eyes wide, but far from startled, “You may.” It was the river beside which, in the freezing black moonlight on one of those late winter night walks home, Sam had slipped a gloved hand into Josh’s, and for the first time, Josh hadn’t found an excuse to pull away. Maybe because it was the middle of the night and nobody was around. Maybe because, the day before, Sam told him he loved him and he told Sam he loved him, too. It was the river that every time he and Sam walked past, they had fallen a little deeper in love.

  
           “I think it’s my favorite river, too,” Sam responded, lowering himself to press his chest against Josh’s back, burrowing his nose into Josh’s curls. “It’s my favorite river, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously, they don't belong to me. 
> 
> But I love to play with them anyway. <3


End file.
